Ask An Expert

“Child Safe Canada's 'Ask An Expert' is the only resource
for safety related questions”

Your Questions: Answered

Ever wondered about what age you child needs to be, before being left at home
alone? Wondered about how to keep you child safe coming and going from school?
These any many vital questions are answered each week by our staff of
professional safety experts. Child Safe Canada knows that when you have a
question regarding the safety of your child you need a solid and straight up
answer, and we deliver answers you can trust. Turn to Child Safe Canada when
you need professionals that you can trust!

When can I leave my child home alone?

This is a questions that is asked daily to Child Safe Canada instructors! The
age at which children in Canada can legally be left at home alone for
reasonable and short periods of time varies from province to province, ranging
anywhere from 10 to 12 years. Some provinces place that decision into a
parent’s hands ( assuming they are responsible and not placing a child in
harm’s way). At Child Safe Canada we support all laws governing the care and
safety of children and gear our programs to adhere to provincial laws. Further
to these provincial laws,your responsibility as a parent, is to assess all the
risks and benefits to your child and make a responsible and safe choice. Just
because your provincial laws states that your child may be left alone at age
11, does not mean that ALL youth in that age will act responsibly and
react safely in an emergency and thus should NOT be left alone.

Child Safe Canada teaches that being home alone is:

"not an EVENT but instead it is a PROCCESS!"

Being home alone should be a process that is initiated in gradual and supervised
stages. Start with small periods of time, and slowly increase with the child’s
skills and growing maturity level. Make sure that at all times your child is
remotely supervised, supported, and has direct access to assistance in
difficult or frightening situations. Regularily reinforce the lessons learned
in this class and most importantly, talk to your child about how they feel.
Monitor closely the process ;and offer or revoke 'home alone’ time to coincide
with the child's demostrated level of maturity.

"If you are not sure if it’s time for your child to be home alone...it isn’t"

What is the rate of pay for babysitting?

This is a tough questions to answer. It really depends on many factors; how
much babysitting experience you have, what will your responsibilities be, do
you have you Red Cross babysitter's certificate, how many children will you be
babysitting, and how much can the family afford. Most youth start at around
$4.00/hour when providing babysitting services. Discuss this with the
family BEFORE you babysit, they will appreciate your prefessional attitude for
asking. Many babysitters have flexible rates for families that they babysit for
often and even offer to babysit for free occassionally. Don't feel rude for
bringing up this topic, you're a trained and safe babysitter and people are
confident knowing that you have your Red Cross babysitters course, and will
expect to discuss rate of pay with you.

How do I know if my child's bike is
to small and I need to buy a new one?

The rule of thumb is that a child should be able to stand above their bike seat
on the balls of their feet, with the seat right against the crotch area.
If they can't keep both feet on the ground, the bike is too big. If they have
clearance below their crotch, or they can keep their feet flat on the
ground the bike or seat is too low. You may not have to buy a new bike
just try adjusting the seat up. There is a bolt for adjusting just under
the seat. make sure it is very tight after any adjustments so that the seat
does not slide down during riding.